Yasiel Puig hitting All-Star break a more mature player for Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers' Yasiel Puig acknowledges kids that were yelling to him during batting practice prior to a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, July 11, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Dodgers´ Yasiel Puig smiles after a low strike is called against him in the 9th inning. Cleveland beat the Dodgers 5-4 at Dodger Stadium Wednesday, July 2, 2014. ( Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News )

He can try it on for size, but you know his first All-Star jersey will fit like a glove.

Puig surely will be electrifying in the All-Star Game and home-run derby. He’ll flip bats and point fingers. He’ll laugh louder than Joan Rivers and dance with more wiggle than Victor Cruz.

He’ll dazzle with his laser-like arm and show off that pop in his bat in Minnesota next week.

What the Dodgers should be most wowed about is his marked improvement in the responsibility department.

Following an embarrassing and inexcusable debacle in the Dodgers’ home opener, in which Puig was late and benched, he has essentially behaved himself.

No speeding tickets. No fashionably late appearances.

Just showing up, doing his job well and still having fun doing it. And that’s where the star power is for the Dodgers, who are in first place in the National League West and have designs on a World Series title.

The 23-year-old Puig is maturing.

“It’s my take. It’s Donnie’s (Mattingly) take, it’s Ned’s (Colletti) take, it’s the coaches’ take,’’ said Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ president and CEO. “That doesn’t mean he won’t have a stumble now and then, but nothing is ever malicious with him. It’s over-enthusiasm and (adjusting to) living in this culture. We shouldn’t ever use it as an excuse for doing the wrong thing or making a bad decision, but we’re mindful of that.”

Puig is batting .306 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. Fans voted him onto the All-Star team. Last year, he didn’t win the vote for the last spot on the team, and Philadelphia reliever Jonathan Papelbon was outspoken in his displeasure of Puig possibly making the team since he’d only been playing in the majors for a little more than a month.

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No controversy this time.

Kasten wasn’t on the Dodgers’ trip when Puig’s All-Star nod was revealed, but he texted him immediately and had someone translate for him and wrote in Spanish how happy he was for him.

“I think overall we made decisions that worked out well for us and Yasiel, who among sports people is a household name,” Kasten said. “We couldn’t envision that when we signed him. To think that 18 months after we signed him he’s an All-Star.”

Usually when they talk on the phone, Puig says: “Stan, it’s Puig.” Then he says something in Spanish and hands the phone off to someone who can translate a conversation for them.

It’s when Puig is called to Kasten’s office that trouble is brewing.

“I’m kind of like the principal,” Kasten said. “He knows it’s a serious matter when he has to meet with me or talk with me. It’s gotten to be like that.”

Kasten and Puig often joke around on the field, however. The last time Puig was called to Kasten’s office was after the home opener.

A source said Puig was so emotional about hurting the team and his teammates that day that he cried in the clubhouse once the game started. He’s given the Dodgers nothing to fret about since.

Puig no longer has a driver to thwart speeding and ensure punctuality.

Mike Brito, the scout who signed Puig, was impressed with Puig’s attention to time when they were at a Cuban restaurant on Sunset Boulevard recently.

“I loved it when he told the waiter to tell the cook to make it faster because he said he had to be at the stadium,” Brito said.

Catcher A.J. Ellis said he believes Puig is being viewed differently by other baseball players, too. The same ones he’s angered by the way he plays the game.

“It’s his second year and his maturity is really showing through and not just among people in our clubhouse but across baseball,” Ellis said. “There’s a respect level for him the way he’s pitched to and the way other teams respect his throwing arm and unbelievable talent.

“There’s not as much venom from the other dugout. He plays with so much heart and emotion. They know it’s genuine. I think he’s shown everyone how much passion he has for the game. People realize now it’s genuine and not to show someone up.”

Puig is showing up on time and not giving the Dodgers reasons to punish him. He’s giving his time to charities and children. When he heard a boy in a wheelchair on the field yelling for him before Friday’s game, he chatted with him, said hi and later brought him a bat. The boy was thrilled.

“He’s taken some steps forward with his game,” Mattingly said. “He’s getting strikes to hit, and he’s less wild at the plate. I don’t worry about him that much, as long as he’s here on time and is where he’s supposed to be. He’s a kid that lives life. I like that.”

His maturation might not show in the All-Star week as it will be buried behind home runs in the derby and bat flips and smiles, but it’s there.